Virgin's A350 Business Class Is....

Virgin Atlantic is one of the most beloved and unique airlines in the world too bad their new a350 business class is [Music] overrated today's Journey starts at he thr Terminal 3 specifically at the Virgin Clubhouse now according to Sky tracks this is the world's best business class Lounge of course you and I both know just how reputable Sky tracks is or should I say isn't so I'm going to take this claim with a grain of salt but to my delight the Virgin Clubhouse is awesome it has so much character you've got the pretty standard Lounge stuff like showers allar dining and a massive bar but then you've also got some super unique and quirky features like a jungle themed relaxation area a musical Loft and even pelaton bikes if you want to work up a sweat before your flight but if you're an avgeek like me you'll be immediately drawn to the rooftop Terrace which has sweeping views of the ramp at Terminal 3 now the catch is that the Terrace is completely exposed there's nothing protecting you from the fickle London weather but today the skies are as clear as can [Music] be hey look at that here comes our plane this particular a 351000 which is known as Ruby Slipper has a very interesting backstory while the plane was delivered to Virgin just 3 years ago it's been flying for nearly seven that's because in its previous life it served as an Airbus flight test vehicle but you'd have no idea just looking at her in that gorgeous virgin Livery she looks brand spanking new how does she look on the inside well take a look for [Music] yourself the first thing that stands out about any Virgin Atlantic plane is the lighting as you board you're greeted by this spectacular pink and purple lighting scene now at first it looks really cool and it definitely gives the plane some personality but I find that the longer you're basked in this purple glow the more and more tiring it becomes on the eyes now I had thought or I at least hoped that the crew would change the lights to something a little little bit more mellow later on in the flight but that just never happened the cabin remains bathed in this Purple Haze for the entire 11-hour journey to San Francisco by the end of the flight it's kind of giving me a headache okay enough about the lights let's talk about the seat now this seat design is just a few years old but honestly it already feels a bit dated the padding is good and the leather is nice but the layout and ergonomics just aren't great there also isn't that much useful storage and the whole thing feels more cramped than it actually looks but the biggest let down to the seat is actually the lack of privacy you see virgin fancies itself a social Airline and because of that they chose not to turn these seats into fully enclosed suits something that's become common place in modern business class products this particular seat is equipped with just a tiny partition instead of a full sliding door and this is meant to encourage socialization between guests but on my flight it didn't seem to have that effect at all after stowing my bags and getting situated a flight attendant comes up to me addresses me by name and offers me a welcome drink which I gladly accept now from what I can tell the crew seems jovial it seems like they actually like their jobs and are excited to go to California this is a good first impression but unfortunately as the flight progresses the service will become more and more uneven but more on that in a second shortly after takeoff the crew Springs into action and starts to prepare our meal and boy were they efficient the three courses came out in Rapid succession and each one was a winner first up we have a Pudo starter served with feta onion and warm bread now I'm honestly not the biggest fan of Pudo I find it a bit pungent but up at altitude your taste buds aren't as sensitive and I actually think this helped improve my palette for the dish the tortillini man is up next and it is also quite good it comes smothered in white sauce artichokes and zucchini and while it doesn't have any protein on it take my word it is plenty filling finally a chocolate moose rounds things out and it is absolutely Divine a few other notes on the meal service first these little salt and pepper shakers are so quirky and so virgin I just had to point them out second it seemed that the crew really wanted to get me drunk because they topped up my wine between each and every course and third this trade table sucks it folds out in such a weird way and sits uncomfortably close to your body and when it's deployed it makes it really hard to get in and out of your seat this makes the seat feel even more cramped than it already is but weird trade tables aside the meal service was solid and much much better than what I've had on virgin's main rival British Airways with my belly now full and my brain a little buzzed I figured it was a good time to watch a movie now this TV screen is big it's sharp it's respons responsive and it can even be linked to and controlled by your phone but I found the content itself to be surprisingly lacking the selection of movies and TV shows isn't great and for the moment I just can't find anything I really want to watch okay so how about this instead let me throw on the famous a350 tail Cam and I'll just do some work instead well just a few problems with that problem number one I can't for the life of me find where the tail cam is on the I Fe I spent about 10 minutes trying to find it before giving up and asking a flight attendant to help me out turns out it's they're all right you just have to swipe to a page that isn't marked problem number two the Wi-Fi isn't working for me and honestly I'm kind of relieved because it's pretty expensive at $30 for the flight okay let's see if I'm not going to watch a movie and I'm not going to get some work done then maybe I should take a nap Lu ly my experience with the bed is a lot more positive unlike finir and Air France who I both flew overnight during this trip virgin provides a proper mattress pad in business class which makes a huge difference the comforter is also thick and fluffy and the pillow is really big the only thing that's missing here are slippers and PJs but considering this is a daytime flight I can't really fault virgin for not providing that okay night night [Music] after a lovely 3-hour Siesta I awake feeling a bit peckish as the Brits would say lucky for me virgin has a dine on demand venue and seeing that it was around 4:30 Lon time AKA tea time if felt appropriate to order some cream tea which comes with scones jam and kurd now remember how I was initially impressed by the onboard service well from this point forward things start to take a turn for the worse it took nearly an hour for my tea to come and as I waited three different flight attendants came up to ask if I was the one who ordered it in no world should it take an hour to make some tea and scones and it seemed like there was a lack of communication between the crew typically I just rush this aside as a one-off occurrence but almost the exact same thing happens later in the flight about 2 hours before landing I ordered a Beyond Burger which was actually pretty tasty once again it takes almost an hour to arrive and the flight attendants seemingly can't remember who ordered it another thing that starts to annoy me is that the crew is hogging the Loft now the loft is one of the most unique features aboard the Virgin a350 it's this really neat social area by the boarding door that has nice couches and a big TV it's supposed to offer a nice change of scenery if you want to work or relax somewhere other than your seat but for a good chunk of the flight the area was occupied by three to four crew members laughing and chatting it up I'm sure they would have moved if I asked them but they looked like they were having a good time and I just didn't feel comfortable spoiling their party now look I am all for having a fun and happy crew It generally leads to better service and a more welcoming atmosphere and from what I've heard virgin Crews typically earn high marks but at times it felt like my crew almost forgot they were on the clock as we begin our approach into San Francisco I start to internalize my thoughts on this experience all in all I actually had a pretty good time now I know it might not sound like that based on everything I just said but the reason I've been so critical isn't because the flight sucked it's because my expectations were so high and those expectations just weren't met again people adore virgin and other reviewers have almost universally given them High Praise on top of that flying virgin's upper class is really expensive it's priced at a big premium all in all I walked into this flight fully expecting virgin to knock my socks off and while the Lounge food and bed were good the seat service and if kind of let me down so I don't think it's fair to say that virgin's a350 upper class isn't good from my experience it's just overrated of course this is just one man's opinion if you love virgin tell me in the comments what I'm missing here and while you're down there let me know what review you'd like to see next I've flown a bunch of cool airlines in the last few months and experience was worth sharing and of course if you're enjoying these reviews make sure to subscribe to see even more of them thanks so much again for watching and until I see you again don't forget to look up

Channel: Coby Explores

Views: 27,387

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Id: IWWsNHD881E

Length: 11min 49sec (709 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 22 2024